Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Shares Down 4.3%

Shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) dropped 4.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $9.05 and last traded at $9.11. 3,053,640 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 27,209,064 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on SNAP. Argus upgraded shares of Snap to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Snap from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. HSBC cut Snap from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Snap from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Snap from $16.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.87.

Snap Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $15.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.89 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $10.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.85. The company has a current ratio of 3.98, a quick ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.02. Snap had a negative return on equity of 42.84% and a negative net margin of 23.49%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. Analysts expect that Snap Inc. will post -0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.69, for a total transaction of $8,690,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 58,553,813 shares in the company, valued at $508,832,634.97. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 1,000,000 shares of Snap stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.69, for a total transaction of $8,690,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 58,553,813 shares in the company, valued at $508,832,634.97. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.56, for a total value of $298,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 481,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,980,396.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,352,420 shares of company stock valued at $12,091,682. 22.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Snap

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SNAP. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Snap in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Snap by 354.1% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Snap in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its position in Snap by 534.4% during the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 2,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 2,330 shares during the period. Finally, JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Snap during the first quarter worth $100,000. 47.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Snap Company Profile

Snap Inc operates as a technology company in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers Snapchat, a visual messaging application with various tabs, such as camera, visual messaging, snap map, stories, and spotlight that enable people to communicate visually through short videos and images.